October 23, 2018

Sister Annella Bieniek, age 95, died Sunday evening at St. Francis Convent. She requested a Natural Burial, so we had a prayer service yesterday afternoon and then the burial. We will have a Memorial Mass at a later date.

Starting this afternoon until Friday noon we have “All Community” meetings. After Mass today, we took a picture of all the Sisters who could be gathered in Chapel.  Here is what we look like!

                                  

Enjoy these nice fall days.

Peace and blessings on you and your family.

Sister Mary Lou

August 13, 2018

Happy hot August Day.  It was 90 degrees at noon! And will get warmer as the day goes on. “The corn should grow good.”

At Mass yesterday we had the Commissioning of the 5 Franciscan Community volunteers. Such a nice group of young people who are dedicating a year of their life to doing volunteer work. I am including their pictures and a bit of information about each of them.

We have a retreat going on here this week until Friday afternoon so it is very quiet around here these days. The retreat director is Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM.

Peace and blessings on your day and on your week.

Sister Mary Lou

January 5, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR May God bless you and continue to care for you all through 2011. The old year ended with 8/10s inch of rain last Thursday and 1 ½ inches of snow on Friday. A high temperature of 35 degrees on Thursday turned to very cold on Friday and Saturday. Roads and sidewalks are icy, so walking very mindfully is a very good idea.

I am most grateful for my walker, but always I have to sweep off my wheels when I go inside.

The old year went out with a 24-hour time of prayer for peace and a holy-hour on December 31st, Blessed are the Peacemakers Prayer service. “It was a time to reflect upon the gift and power of peace: its place in the heart of Jesus’ message and its importance in the world we live in.” The prayer service was based on the Beatitudes and the words of St. Francis. My prayer for us is: “O God as we begin a new year, help us to be bringers of peace to all those with whom we are called to share life, whether at home, at work, in our relationships or in brief encounters. Fill us with the renewed conviction that we CAN make a difference in our world and through our efforts to live peacefully.”

And the day after New Year’s Day was the Feast of Epiphany, the Feast of the Three Kings. Here is a picture of a crib set with the Kings in attendance (one below also).

On January 2nd we had our Sisters’ Christmas celebration. We had evening prayer followed by a social hour and special dinner. Sister Julien carved the roast. After the meal we had a sing-along. Sr. Maurita played guitar. It was a relaxing and fun evening.

The line of walkers is a common sight in the dining room or chapel or wherever we are gathered.

On Friday we will again have another Bilingual Eucharist. This time we are honoring Felipe and Maria Barreda, a couple martyred for their Catholic Faith, on January 7, 1983. They were an ordinary couple, devoted to God, who raised a family of six children and who worked hard at their trade. While picking coffee beans they were attacked on December 28th and endured unbelievable torture. Throughout their cruel treatment they continued to respond with prayer and refusals to betray their Christian Faith. God bless them for their example of fidelity to the Faith.

God bless you and keep you safe.

Sister Mary Lou

December 28, 2010

This will probably be one of the last times I will write “2010.” It seems not so long ago that we started writing “2000.” On January 11th we can write “1/11/’11”

I hope you had a great Christmas. (Folks stranded in airports and other places had a hard time of it.) I have some nice pictures from around the Motherhouse…lots of poinsettias in Chapel and around the building. I counted 20 plants in Chapel. Two families donated ten plants just before Christmas. We are grateful. Thank you.

Many friends and neighbors joined us for the Christmas Eve Pageant and Christmas Eve Mass on Friday. I was pleased at how many people joined us after Mass in St. Francis Hall for cookies, hot chocolate and other goodies. Thank you.

On the 23rd, Sr. Julien and I spent four hours at Coborn’s “Making a Joyful Noise” as part of the Food Shelf fund-raiser. Total collection from the 14-day’s work was over $5,000. Thank you, generous donors and all volunteers who sat near the green collection box. You help make life easier for a LOT of needy folks.

On Sunday we celebrated Sister Sylvia’s 90th birthday. Many family members and friends joined us Sisters for cake and ice cream, etc. Congratulations, Sister Sylvia.

At 6 p.m. on Thursday, we start the 24-hour Vigil of Prayer/Fast for Peace. Individuals are signed up to pray every hour for 24-hours for World Peace. May the Lord hear and listen to our prayers. May peace start in our own hearts.

I want to share with you two blessings from our prayer book. It is my prayer for you.

“May God bless us all with peaceful homes and loving communities.”

“May knowledge become clearer in us that we may know the breadth of God’s blessings, the length of God’s promises the height of God’s majesty, the depth of God’s judgments.”

May the Lord bless and continue to care for each of us in the New Year.

Sister Mary Lou

December 21, 2009

As of 11:47 this morning, winter is officially here according to the calendar. From the looks and feel of it, winter has been here for about a month already.

The fourth week of Advent is here and Christmas comes on Friday—the day we’ve been preparing for all Advent. All four Advent candles on the wreath are now lit. Most of the Christmas cards and been sent and MANY received. God bless all our relatives and friends who take the time to reconnect or connect. Building relationships is such an important part of living and being Franciscan.

Music. Music. And more music. This is what St. Francis Music Center has provided for us. December 11th, Celo V’ec directed the two Sting Orchestras for our entertainment. And at this concert, the St. Francis Community Choir joined them for a beautiful rendition of Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. Then on the 13th the Community Choir had their own inspiring and beautiful concert. Then yesterday a group of six Senior High School girls provided us with another marvelous musical experience. These six girls, the Senior Ensemble, entertained us by singing beautifully twelve Christmas songs. And as part of this concert a String Trio, Students of Celo V’ec, played six numbers for us. What marvelous talent these young people shared with us! Thank you, ALL you musicians, for sharing your gifts with us. We were appreciative audiences.


I hope you weren’t planning on traveling to the east coast the next few days. It sounds to me like moving around there can be a big problem. And now it sounds like we could have our own bout with new snow before Christmas. My two brothers and their wives are planning on snow-birding in Texas the next three months. As each round of snow comes, they say, “Texas is sounding real good right now.”

Last Thursday we had our Sister/Employee Christmas pot-luck meal at noon. After the meal, the drawings were held to give away many items. These items were donated by employees and Sisters as a way to raise some money for Caring by Sharing. This year the funds were donated to the Boys and Girls Club and Hands of Hope. I am so proud of how generous folks were. A total of $1,117 was divided between the two groups. Many people went home with lovely gifts. I didn’t win anything, but was gifted with a pair of home-sewn mittens—the only thing I really wanted. Oh, lucky me!

Many, many generous donors are returning one of the two paper ornaments we sent to them in our Christmas appeal letter. These ornaments are now gracing two large Christmas trees in chapel. After Christmas these ornaments will be divided up among all of us Sisters and these will be our special people to pray for each day of 2010.

I wish each of you, my blog readers, a very Happy and grace-filled Christmas. May the love of Jesus fill your hearts and overflow in the good you do for others.

Peace and all good. (Pax et Bonum.)
Sister Mary Lou

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June 2, 2009

The lilacs are in full bloom, but are now starting to fade. The fragrance near the rows of bushes on the south part of our Motherhouse property is heavenly. On my trips to Melrose and St. Cloud over the weekend, I noticed many fields of corn that seem to be growing nicely. But we very much need rain. Let us all pray fervently for the gift of seasonable rain—not too much and not too little.

On Sunday we went to a pancake breakfast in Melrose. It was a fundraiser for the Franciscans in Brazil. Father John Schwieters, Sister Jean’s brother, is a member of that Community.

Last Tuesday we welcomed back another bus of troops. As I sat shivering at 8 p.m. while waiting for the bus to come to town, I thought, “What little I am suffering right now is little compared to what these men and women had to put up with for this past year during their deployment.” The police, the fire trucks and a group of patriot guard were in front of the bus as it came into Little Falls…and a long line of cars followed the bus.

Last Thursday the Little Falls Franciscan Life Commitment Group had a tree planting to honor Mary Kranz, who has terminal cancer. The new tree is on the lawn, west of the Motherhouse. Sr. Georgine took the picture of Mary and her family and the tree-planters.

Finally the Russian olive trees between Hurrle Hall and Mary Hall have gotten leaves on them. They really are late-starters.

Sunday was the Feast of Pentecost. We had a wonderful liturgy with lots of singing.
I read this quote which I though worth passing on: “This Pentecost, may God’s liberating and life-giving and boundary-shattering Spirit rush through us and our communities. Inspired by the Spirit may we discern anew the universal scope of God’s love—for humans and for all of God’s creation. (Rev. Peter Sawtell) I guess that can serve as a challenge for each of us.

The other day I walked around the west side of the Motherhouse. Pictured here are a couple of things I saw.

Pax et Bonum (Peace and Goodness)
Sister Mary Lou